My dear Friends
I send a hastily written copy
of the letter I am going to forward
the Editor of the Greenfield Gazette
so that it may be published, if he will,
next Saturday.

I am very glad Mr Sheldon has
written so clearly and I hope the
few lines I send will strengthen our cause
and that you will approve of them --

I am very busy these days, so is my
good wife who has promised a Ms. of a new
book by May 1st. -- We sail on the 3rd of
May -- Our plans are fascinating : we have
a long journey through the center of France by two
picturesque routes down & back to Carcaosonne,
Avejnon etc -- Fine, isnít it?

Hope you are both well. Keep up the fight in our
absence. Lizzie sends love -- I join most respect-
fully Yrs J. Wells Champney

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This 3-page paper contains a friendly letter from New York artist J. Wells Champney to the Misses Baker and Coleman, followed by a copy of the 2-page letter written to the Editor of the Greenfield Gazette, the local newspaper. Mr. and Mrs. Champney spent part of each year in New York City and part in Deerfield, Massachusetts, where they owned a house on the main street. The letter is dated March 11, 1900, in the middle of the argument about the location of the trolley through Deerfield. Mr. Champney is strongly against the trolley coming down the main street and promises that "no convenience can make amends for the crime of destruction of one of the most beautiful avenues in the world."